Anya
by Kit4Mayor
Summary: I've been living on the streets since I was a baby, but after I got into a nearly fatal fight, I was rescued by a special platypus and recruited for a secret animal organisation. But the cruel outside world is all I've ever known, so how am I supposed to adjust to this very different life? My name is Anya the Cat, and this is the story of how one person changed my whole life.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: animal years = human years x2. So a nine-year-old cat would be eighteen in human years.**

...

It's cold. So cold. My fur is trembling along with my whole body as I curl up in a ball with my tail wrapped around my skinny body, the knocked-over wheelie bin not providing very much cover from the harsh cold of Danville's winter. The moon is high, but that's all I know about the time of day. All I can do is try to sleep and ignore the rumbling in my stomach.

Because I've been on the streets for ten years, I've gotten used to not getting much to eat, but I haven't had much to eat today even by usual standards. Because it's winter and therefore gets dark sooner, that leaves a smaller window for me to steal the tiny amount of food I always get. It may seem weird that I need daylight in order to steal food, but because of an incident a few winters ago, I don't risk trying to steal anything when it's dark out.

But that just means that my already-small intake of food just gets even smaller, which means that I get a lot closer to starvation during the winter. And considering I'm already battling bitter cold temperatures, it's a wonder one of these winters hasn't already killed me.

"Psst!" I hear a voice hiss.

I open my eyes-with some difficulty because of the cold-and squint out of the wheelie bin. My eyes light up as I recognise the small white cat peering in. "Julia!"

"Anya, you ARE in here!" Julia beams triumphantly. "Come on, I've got something to show you!"

I crawl out of the wheelie bin and out into the snow. My younger friend Julia is almost invisible against the white powder, but what gives her position away every time is her bright blue eyes, which are just a few shades lighter than mine.

"Are you okay?" she asks me, tipping her head on one side. "You look cold."

Visibly and audibly shivering, I scowl. "I AM cold. You just dragged me out into the snow."

Julia winces and shies away. "I-I'm sorry!"

I sigh. Julia is literally half my age, and it definitely shows in how she acts around me. Most of the time, she's like a little sister to me and I a big sister to her, but every now and then I get a glimpse of exactly how intimidated she is by me. And I don't entirely blame her; I'm twice her size, albeit of a similar weight; I've shown no hesitation in killing or maiming for food or shelter in front of her; and my claws and teeth are unusually sharp. I would never even lay a paw on her in a threatening or malicious way, but I'm not sure she's entirely convinced of that.

"What did you want to show me?"

Still slightly hesitant, Julia bounds through the snow towards the alleyway exit. I follow just as quickly. I don't have much energy, but the snow on my paws is too cold for me to walk.

Julia leads me to the alleyway opposite the one we were just in and slips through a hole in the brick wall of a building. I hesitantly follow her through the tunnel until we come out in…

"W-What is THIS?!"

It's a storeroom, filled to the brim with food. The temperature in here is chilly but to me it seems warm compared to the snow outside.

Julia is beaming. "I met a housecat in the park today and he told me about the tunnel in his owner's grocery shop! He said we can only take the things he leaves out for us in the middle of the room."

So we trot over to the centre of the storeroom and find what looks to me like a feast. It's really only a small basket of fish, a bowl of water, and even some cooked eggs, which is something I've never had before.

I seriously want to tuck right in, but of course I have to share with Julia. So we split the food between us and take turns drinking from the water. Honestly, I would have been happy with just ONE fish; that's how starving I was before this meal. This is the first good meal I've had since the last time the butcher shop's previous owners put out food for us, which was about two and a half years ago now.

"Thank you so much," I gasp out when I've finally finished my last fish. "You have no idea how much I needed this."

"More than me, I should think," Julia giggles. "And I was starving."

I sit back on my haunches and start licking my paw. "Is your friend going to do this again?"

"Yep!" Julia beams. "Hey, we should tell everyone about this place!"

I freeze with my tongue still out and stare at her. "Are you MAD?!"

Julia flinches. "W-What? Why not?"

"For starters, this small amount of food was enough to make a difference for us, but the more animals who come in here, the less food everyone's going to get." I shake my head. "And for another thing, WE may have good self-control, but anyone else might try and steal food from the rest of the storeroom, then your friend will get into trouble and we'll never get this again." I look straight into her eyes. "I know you want to share the food with others, but it's best if we keep it just for us, okay? Promise me you won't tell anyone about this, Julia."

"I-I promise," Julia says, clearly trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

I take pity on her and move closer to her, affectionately beginning to lick her ears and the top of her head, where she can't reach very well herself. She purrs and tilts her head up. I've done this many times since I met her four years ago, and I know she loves it because it reminds her of her own mother doing it to her when she was a baby. And I enjoy doing it because it reminds me that I have someone to live and fight for. Sometimes, I forget this and wish I could die, especially during the freezing cold winters. But Julia always inevitably finds me and inadvertently reminds me that I should keep living, for her if nothing else. We're each other's family, and NOTHING can break us apart.

...right?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Blood and slightly grisly death in this chapter.**

 **...**

I wake up the next morning and the sun is shining, to my surprise. A lot of the snow has melted away, meaning the air temperature is nowhere near as cold as it was last night. Also, after last night's meal, I don't feel as hollow as I did yesterday and the food helped me to sleep better, so honestly, I actually feel good this morning.

"Hey, YOU!"

Great…

I turn slowly to find an old rival of mine creeping towards me, his thin face even more gaunt than mine was yesterday. He's a cat like me, but with brown matted fur and a missing ear. We've been enemies for several months now, ever since he was thrown out of his last home. That's what word on the street is, anyway.

"What do you want, Tiger?" I demand, my claws very slowly beginning to unsheath.

"This is my shelter," growls the cat. "You stole it!"

"You weren't in it when I got into it last night, therefore you can't complain about me taking advantage of you leaving it alone," I growl back.

"Get out of my territory!" Tiger hisses.

Normally, I wouldn't let this hairball of a cat treat me like that, especially because that shelter was one of the best I've found in a long time, but I don't want to ruin my good mood with a fight.

"With pleasure," I spit, turning my back on him.

This is a risk, but thankfully, he's more interested in "his" shelter than me, so he doesn't attack me. I keep trotting down the street, ignoring the now-hidden hole in the wall. I'm hungry but not starving yet. And I want to find Julia.

"Hey, Anya!" calls a voice.

I turn, recognising the voice. It's not Julia, but it IS someone I know and like: a silver tabby she-cat called Alex.

"Hey!" I call back, smiling, as she bounds across the road to join me. "It's been ow've you been?" I look her up and down. "You look fatter. In the best way, of course."

"I have a home now!" purrs Alex, beaming. "I was caught by the pound a few weeks ago, thought that was it for me, but they took me to this super nice animal shelter and I got adopted pretty much the very next day!"

I stare at her in shock. "You have a home and a family? You're a PET now?!"

She nods eagerly, still beaming. "I can't believe it! If you wanted a home too, I could get the pound to come for you too. Where's Julia? She could come too."

"I can't find her," I reply steadily, though on the inside, my heart is beginning to speed up with excitement. "B-But that's definitely something I'd love, Alex, thank you so much!"

"You're welcome! When you find Julia, come back here and I'll arrange it."

"I will. Thank you again!"

I take off down the road, searching quickly in every alley I come across. I'm now beginning to feel giddy with excitement; I've never really seen the appeal of living in a house with a bunch of humans, but honestly, ANYTHING would be better than being on the streets right now. Julia especially doesn't deserve to live like this, so if nothing else, I'm doing this for her.

I can't find her in any of the alleyways, so I go down the opposite side of the road. As I'm walking back down, I hear an unfamiliar voice snarl something unintelligible in a voice that chills me to the bone. But what terrifies me is the next voice that speaks: Julia's. "P-Please l-let me go!"

I hurriedly try to follow the voices to find my friend, looking in every alley, nook and cranny, and shop that I can see.

"I hear you've found a nice place to eat," the first voice leers. "Tell us, and I might let you live."

"I-It's the grocery shop opposite the place with the red, white, and blue stripey pole outside!" bleats Julia's terrified voice. "P-Please don't hurt me!"

I hear a mocking laugh. Then: "You're so pathetic."

I finally manage to find the alleyway they're in, and the sight freezes my heart. Poor Julia is lying on her back, pinned down by a cat even larger than me who's holding her down with just one heavy paw. Two other cats-still bigger than Julia but not as big as the one pinning her down-are standing slightly behind their leader, clearly enjoying this, going by the mocking smirks on their faces.

Just as I'm about to take a step to help her, the biggest cat lifts his other paw, claws unsheathed, and slices a hole in Julia's side, causing my poor friend to scream in pain.

"JULIA!" I yowl, darting towards them. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

I slash my claws over and over into the neck of the cat pinning her down, killing him almost immediately. Then I turn to attack the next cat, who leaps and bowls me over. I violently claw her in the face, drawing blood, and kick her off me. She flees, while I pin the last cat down and snarl directly into his face. "If you EVER hurt Julia again, you'll end up exactly like your DEAD friend over there! Got it?!"

His shocked eyes flicker to the bloodied body of the first cat a little way off, then he nods hurriedly. I let him up and, hissing aggressively, cut a nick in his tail with my claws, which causes him to yelp and take off out of the alley.

A weak cough brings my attention round to little Julia. Even though most of the blood around the alley belongs to her attackers, I can see a small pool of it surrounding her side, where there's a pretty deep cut. My heart beating fast and hard with fear, I bound over to her and nudge her to her feet with my head. She's leaning very heavily on me, which is very worrying in itself, but what's worse is that we don't even make it halfway out the alley before her legs give out and she collapses to the ground.

"Julia!" I gasp, dropping to her eye-line. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"

I know it's a stupid question, but her eyes are closed and she's barely breathing, and I desperately need her to talk to me. "Julia!"

"An...y-ya…" Julia rasps, her voice extremely weak. "Soh...Soh...r...r…"

She's...trying to apologise!

"Save your energy," I beg her. "Oh, Julia, I don't blame you! I really, really don't, so please save your energy and don't talk again. All that matters now is getting you somewhere you can recover."

I slide my head under her body and then stand up and lift my head, letting her limp body slip down onto my back. With one last glance back at the horrific scene, I make my hasty way out of the alley.


	3. Chapter 3

I have no idea where to go. I can't go back to that wheelie bin; Tiger's there now. And I can't wander around the streets much longer; I'm already getting disgusted looks and screeches as I run past as fast as I can with a bleeding cat on my back. Maybe I can go to Danville Park…?

"Anya!"

I skid to a halt and whirl round, my eyes widening as I spot Alex coming bounding across the road to join me, her own eyes wide with shock and horror as she stares between me and little Julia.

"What happened?!"

"I'll explain later. Right now, I need to get her somewhere she can recover."

"My owners' backyard," Alex urges. "One's away at work and one's asleep all day so they won't discover us."

"Perfect," I breathe in relief. "Let's go."

So Alex leads the way down the road, weaving between pedestrians and cars, and I follow as quickly as I dare. I can't lose track of Alex; I'll never find her again in the midday rush of people and cars. But at the same time, we'll lose even more time if Julia falls off my back. And I don't want to give Julia even MORE pain than she already has.

Suddenly, something hits into me and bowls me over, knocking Julia off my back.

"Anya!" Alex screeches.

It's the cat from earlier, the female one whom I drove off after killing the other one. She's pinning me down with all her strength, her snarling face close enough to mine that I can see the very red cut down her face that I scored on her.

"Anya!" I hear Alex yowl again.

"Get Julia out of here!" I shout. "Just go! Get her to safety and help her!"

I know Alex won't want to go, but the urgency in my tone is clear enough. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her pick up Julia's in her mouth and bolt.

This gives me enough focus to work on struggling away from my attacker, but she's very strong for an alleycat, and I can't physically move. So I lunge with my head and bite her ear hard, causing her to yowl and lurch backwards. I use this opportunity to try to bowl HER over, but she recovers quicker than last time and swipes with her sharp claws, scoring a cut down my leg. Pain and blood both exploding from the wound, I scream and lash out with my own claws. I manage to catch her on the face again, this time over her eye.

This incapacitates her long enough for me to get to my feet and nurse my hurt front left leg. But not long enough for me to avoid her next attack, which is a powerful swipe to the neck.

Coughing up blood, I back away blindly, but she follows up her neck-attack with a swipe to my other leg, bringing me down. While I'm trying to struggle to my feet, she lashes out with her claws and cuts across my face, a bigger cut than the one I inflicted on her. Finally, she grabs my scruff in her jaws and lifts me almost clean off the ground. I dangle limply in her jaws, still weakly coughing up blood every few seconds.

I had no idea it would end like this. I always assumed I'd die of starvation, but dying in a fight has always been pretty likely too. I'm in a lot of pain right now, but at least Julia won't have to witness my death. That's always been a major worry of mine; we spend so much time together that it's entirely possible that Julia would be there to witness my death and vice versa. Now, that won't happen.

Small mercies, I guess.

Speaking of mercy, my assailant is showing NONE. Her grip on me is tightening, meaning I can feel her teeth closing more and more painfully until I inevitably stop breathing or she breaks my neck. Whichever comes first.

But neither of them come. Just as I feel myself beginning to lose consciousness, I hear an odd, loud noise, and my assailant's grip on me disappears. I drop like a stone, coughing violently.

A few seconds later, I feel someone's arms around me and I am lifted off the ground again, but WAY more gently. I'm being carried, but by who and to where, I can't tell; my eyes won't open.

When they finally do, all I can look at is the ground, until a small, roofless car comes into my view. It's tiny and it has no wheels, which confuses me. The person carrying me lies me down across the two back seats, where I can only lie limply, looking up at the front seat.

And that's when I see the person who saved me. It's...a small teal platypus…? There's only one reason why I know what a platypus is, and that reason is that I used to know one on the streets and she told me what her species was. That platypus was brown, though, not teal. This one is wearing some kind of hat on it's head, and the only reason I'm saying 'it' is because I can't tell what gender the platypus is. Maybe I'd be able to tell if my eyes were more focused, but that swipe I took to the face is really messing up my vision.

Plus, there's all that pain coming from my legs and shoulder and neck, not even mentioning my face.

"W-Where…" I groan, trying to ask where this platypus is taking me.

"Don't speak," the platypus responds, revealing a male voice. "I'm taking you somewhere safe."

Safe… What kind of safe space could a PLATYPUS be taking me to?

As I begin to think about the answer to this question, I finally sink completely into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

" _-she doing?"_

" **Her neck wound is healing nicely. So are the wounds in her legs and the injury in her shoulder is almost completely gone. And I was right: she WILL have a scar across her face but it'll probably fade with time."**

" _So she'll wake up soon?"_

" **She should do. We've lessened her pain medication now, so she may even be able to hear this conversation."**

" _Really? Well then, I think I'll stay a while longer. I was going to go back to my office, but if you think she'll wake up soon, then-."_

I involuntarily groan as my brain fully wakes up and comprehends what I just heard. My eyes blink open, but I can hardly see through my hazy vision. My mouth opens and I begin wailing weakly as I struggle to sit up.

"Calm down, calm down," comes a soothing voice, while two little paws press down on my shoulder to keep me lying down.

My vision clears somewhat, just enough to see a teal shape in front of me. It must be the teal platypus again. Where has he taken me? And who else is here? I heard TWO voices.

I cough feebly, but to my intense relief, I'm not coughing up blood anymore. "Am I okay?" I rasp.

"You should be okay to go as soon as you feel you can," comes a voice that's NOT coming from the platypus. "All your wounds are well on their way to healing, so the last thing really is your internal injuries. But only you can tell us when you feel good enough to leave."

As I'm letting this sink in, the platypus speaks: "That's Apollo Hastings, a doctor. Not just A doctor; the BEST doctor in Danville."

Apollo chuckles. "Thanks, P. But I'm far from the best."

"Who are you?" I croak to the platypus.

"My name is Perry," he replies. "But you can call me Agent P for now."

Agent P...? Why is he called "Agent" P? "W-Where am I...?"

"The headquarters of the Organisation Without a Cool Acronym," Perry replies. "OWCA for short. I brought you here to treat your injuries."

I look down at my paws and fully realise for the first time that I'm lying on my back. I roll over onto my front and turn round to face Perry. And THAT's when I fully realise that Perry the Platypus is standing on his two hind legs.

"H-How are you doing that?" I ask in wonder.

He cocks his head. "Doing what?"

"Standing like that."

Perry looks confused for a moment longer, before his expression clears and he stares at me. "You can't walk on your hind legs?"

"Why would I do that?" I demand.

"Um… I think for me, it's easier to fight." Perry shrugs. "I don't really know. I suppose you never learnt to walk on two legs because you never needed to, right?"

"Nobody should need to," I maintain. "It's not natural for an animal to walk on two legs."

"It's also not natural for animals to talk or be secret agents," Perry points out. "But both of those things are the norm here at OWCA."

"Yeah, how can I understand you?" I demand. "And how can you understand me? I don't speak or understand platypusese."

"I'm speaking cat," Perry replies. "And you're speaking platypusese. At least, that's what it sounds like to us."

"I-I'm speaking…?!"

Perry nods. "We slipped a translator on you when you were unconscious. See, the translators only allow the wearer to SPEAK in any languages, not UNDERSTAND any languages. If you didn't have the translator, I wouldn't be able to understand what you're saying."

"Then how can I understand English?" I ask. "What Apollo's presumably speaking?"

"We're not entirely sure about that," Apollo admits. "We think understanding English is a basic trait that some animals are born with because of evolution. But we haven't been able to prove it."

We all fall silent as I take this in. My eyes sweeping over Perry, who's standing like a human, I sit back on my haunches. "So what now?"

"What now, indeed." Perry scrutinises me. "I'm guessing you neither can nor want to go back to the streets. So your only option is to stay here."

My mind immediately jumps to Julia. I'd want to go back to the streets just to look after her, but God only knows if she's still alive at this point. I wish I could go and find her, but I'm not strong enough yet. I don't know how far away OWCA is from where Alex's owners live, but it doesn't matter at this point; I'm still recovering from my near-fatal injuries.

"Stay here?" I echo.

"We have several dormitory rooms on the very top floor of the building where you can live," Perry replies. "And you can train to be an OWCA agent or you can go to a pet shop and be adopted. Either is absolutely fine."

"An OWCA agent?" I echo again. "What's that?"

"OWCA is a secret organisation that fights evil in Danville and the Tri-State Area," Perry explains. "It's made up almost exclusively of animals, though there ARE human agents."

"The best of which is my girlfriend," Apollo chimes in, beaming. "Mavis. She's the best."

Perry smirks at him briefly, before turning back to me. "We train to make sure we beat evil every time we fight them, because we often can't afford to lose. Most of the time, the schemes are small and not too evil. But occasionally, they do something massive, and we have to-HAVE TO-step up and win. Because if we don't, people will get hurt."

I exhale slowly, my paws beginning to tremble. "That's a lot of pressure."

"Yes, and that's exactly why we need as many trained agents as we can get," Perry responds. "The more agents we have, the more likely we are to win."

I shut my mouth and stare down at the ground. Honestly, I'm leaning towards joining this organisation. I already have a lot of fighting experience because of my time on the streets, and speaking of the streets, this seems like the ideal way to get off them. A home would be nice, but I'm not a domestic animal. I probably wouldn't be able to adjust to such a domestic lifestyle. But OWCA, on the other hand…

I have to admit, I'm also a little nervous about this. Being a secret agent sounds thrilling in theory but I bet the training will be hard and the missions dangerous. Will I be able to handle it?

A thought pops into my mind: if I train to be an OWCA agent, maybe I'll become strong enough to rescue Julia and all my old friends from the streets. I know Alex is a housecat now, but there are many old acquaintances I would love to save from starvation and the freezing cold.

So I look at Perry, who asks, "What do you say?"

A firm look settles on my face. "I want to join your organisation."


	5. Chapter 5

It's silent in the infirmary right now. Perry has gone to talk to his boss about me joining OWCA, and Apollo is doing some work in his "office": a small room in the corner. I can see his shadow moving but I can't see him in person. There's not a lot going on, so watching his shadow move is basically the only thing I can do.

Finally, Perry returns with a clipboard and pen, a pleased look on his face. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Bored, restless," I reply dully. "Can I go now?"

"Well…" He stops, blinking in surprise as he apparently realises something. "I...forgot to ask your name."

I snort. "How did you tell your boss about me without referring to me by name or at the very least realising you don't know my name?"

Perry shrugs sheepishly. "I have no idea. What IS your name?"

"Anya. A-N-Y-A," I add, as Perry starts writing that down.

"When's your birthday?"

I think for a moment. I remember my father telling me the date of my birth, but I don't know what that means because I have no concept of months or weeks; just days and seasons. So I've never really celebrated my birthday. "March 18th."

Perry looks sharply up. "Hey, that's only a few weeks away."

I cock my head. "It is?"

"Yeah. Today's the 25th of February."

"Is that...near the end of winter?"

Perry stares at me in surprise. "You don't know the calendar?"

I shrug helplessly. "I just try and survive every new day that comes. I counted my birthday as the first day of spring, so I know I'm ten years old but I've never celebrated my birthday."

Perry opens his beak but soon closes it again and glances back down at his clipboard, scribbling down something else. "Okay...species?"

I blink in confusion, believing that to be a trick question. "Cat."

"Specifically?"

"Um…" I shake my head helplessly. "I don't know. Cat."

"Alright, I'll leave that one blank," Perry murmurs. "You were born here in Danville, yes?"

"Yes," I reply, glad there's ONE question I can answer for certain.

"Parents?"

There's a slight sting in my heart at that, but I reply, "Opal and Ray."

He glances up at me. "Status?"

I narrow my eyes, wondering if this is all really necessary. What does it matter if my parents are alive or not? "Both dead."

Perry glances down at his clipboard again and continues writing, while I hope he isn't going to ask me how my parents died. Thankfully, he doesn't. "Any siblings?"

"Not that I know of," I reply brusquely.

To my surprise, Perry lowers his clipboard and eyes me. "I've offended you."

I sigh slowly and shake my head. "No, not really. I'm just wondering why you need all this detail. What's the thing you're writing down?"

"An application form." Perry bites the inside of his beak. "Major Monogram said you can join OWCA as long as all this detail is filled out on the form."

My expression clears. "I can join?"

"Yes. But the form is a requirement for every new agent."

I sigh again and close my eyes, resting my chin on my paws. "Alright, alright. What else is there?"

"Well, that's pretty much it," Perry replies. "All that's left now is a quick physical exam, but Apollo will do that when you feel able."

"I'm able," I respond, standing up on shaky legs. "I'm able, right now."

So Apollo does the medical exam, making sure I'm "fit for duty", as he puts it. He checks all my injuries and my physical condition, and I get an all-clear.

"You're still rather thin for OWCA's liking," Apollo tells me. "You must have been starving out on the streets. Well, all you'll need for that is three meals a day, plus vitamin supplements between each meal, and you should be alright on that count."

I smile gratefully. "Thank you, Doctor Apollo."

"There's...actually one more thing," admits Perry, causing both me and Apollo to look at him.

I hesitate, not entirely liking the sound of this. "Okay…"

"All OWCA agents are required to be able to walk on two legs as a bare minimum."

My eyes widen in shock. "You're KIDDING!"

Perry grimaces, shaking his head slowly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not. If you still want to join OWCA, I can help you achieve it."

I still don't think it's natural for an animal to walk on two legs, but if I want to join OWCA, which I still do, I'm going to have to learn how to do it. Who knows: maybe I'll like it better than four legs. Maybe someday.

"Alright," I sigh, hopping off the bed.

Now that he and I are on the same level, I've found that I'm having to look up at him, but that's only because I'm down on four legs and he's up on two.

I push up with my front legs and attempt to balance on my hind feet, but I can't quite manage it, and I have to drop back down to the ground. I try three more times, but I fail each time.

On my fifth attempt, I push myself up too hard and my hind feet slip, and I topple backwards. But I don't hit the floor; instead, I feel myself land in Perry's arms.

I glance up at him and find the platypus's face slightly red. He clears his throat and says, "Here, let me help you."

He turns me onto my front and holds my paws so that I'm balancing on my hind legs. The longer I spend like this, the more I get used to it. This is good; this is the first step.

"Thank you," I say awkwardly to Perry. "Both for this and...you know...saving my life."

Perry looks as awkward as I feel, but he manages a smile. "I never ignore someone in need. Plus, we'll be getting a brand new OWCA agent out of my decision AND you get to be off the streets, so it's a win-win."

I chuckle. "Yes, yes it is."


	6. Chapter 6

Once I've finally gotten used to standing on my hind legs, Perry says, "Ready to try walking?"

I nod slowly and take my paws out of Perry's, clearly surprising him. But I shake my head as he tries to speak, a signal that I don't want him to say anything. I'm grateful to him for saving my life and giving me this opportunity, but now that I HAVE this opportunity, I'm not going to mess it up. If the first step is to stand, walk, and run on my hind legs, then I'm going to do it alone and prove to Perry that I don't need anyone.

I move my left leg and take a step. I move my right leg and take a step. I fall onto my tail as I try to take another step but, again refusing Perry's help, I get back up and continue walking with fierce determination. Perry walks backwards ahead of me at my pace, ready to help if he needs to.

But he doesn't need to. As soon as I get out into the corridor, I feel free. So I let my legs speed up and soon I'm running on my hind legs. It feels incredibly weird at first, but I resist the urge to drop to all fours and continue running, though I don't know what to do with my front legs-my arms, I guess I should say now-until I realise that swinging them as I run helps me go faster.

I keep running until I have to skid to a halt to avoid crashing into someone and I slip back onto my tail. Laughing freely, I roll onto my front and stand up on my hind legs again. I could get used to this.

I glance down at my paws. Now that I'm not using them for walking all the time, I can see that I have four little fingers. I stretch them out to their full length; now they're as long as Perry's.

Oh, this has SO much potential…!

Speaking of Perry's he's finally caught up to me. Panting only as hard as me, he grins and sticks his thumb up at me.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at his thumb with one of my new fingers.

"A thumbs up," Perry replies, still grinning. "It's a nonverbal way of saying "good job"."

I glow with pleasure and triumph at that.

"Good job," Perry chuckles. "I can definitely tick that box now. You're well on your way to becoming a proper OWCA agent now."

Breathing heavily, I sit down on my butt, my legs out in front of me. I have no idea how to sit in human mode.

Perry sits down opposite me, but he folds his legs into a weird position. Cocking my head, I copy the position and find that it's a lot more comfortable than sticking my legs out in front of me.

"This is what we call agent mode," Perry tells me. "When we're all alert and on two legs. We DO go down on all fours, but that's what's known as mindless mode, when humans are around."

"Any humans?" I ask curiously.

"Oh, no. And not just humans, I guess. Anyone who doesn't know you're a secret agent. But if you go out of OWCA, I'd recommend you stay in mindless mode all the time. Just in case."

I make a mental note of that. "Got it. So what now?"

Perry hums in thought for a moment. "I have to take the form back to Major Monogram's office now. Why don't you come with me so you two can meet each other? Then we can get you a dorm, and by that point it'll probably be dinnertime, so we can get some food."

At that moment, my stomach rumbles slightly. I nod approvingly, ignoring the sound. "Sounds like a plan."

Pretty soon, we're on our way up to the office of OWCA's leader: Major Monogram. Perry tells me a bit about him, making a point to tell me to not be intimidated by him. "He can look a bit frightening at first, but he's really not all that scary."

"Trust me, I won't be intimidated," I mutter. "I've seen much worse than an intimidating human."

Perry glances sympathetically at me, unaware that I'm mostly thinking of the horrific sight of my little Julia lying in a pool of blood, not all of it her own. But in the back of my mind, I'm also thinking of all the times I myself have spilled blood, and not just protecting Julia. How many lives I've ended. I don't regret any of them, though; on the streets, it's kill or be killed. But one of the most sickening things I've ever witnessed was a group of hungry street animals feeding on the body of a street cat I'd just killed in a scrap over food. I'll forever be thankful that neither Julia nor I ever had to descend to that level.

Suddenly, Perry catches my shoulders as I, deep in thought, almost walk into a wall. I shrug off his paws and fold my arms as Perry knocks on the door of what is presumably Major Monogram's office. It feels weird to have my arms in such a weird position, but I saw someone doing it on the way here, and I'm certain it's a gesture of dissent.

"Come in," calls a gruff male voice.

Perry pushes the door open to reveal a small and tidy room, with a desk and a chair at the back of it. Behind the desk sits a tall man with grey hair, a mustache, and a single eyebrow running across his forehead. Perry's right; he DOES look intimidating. But I'm not intimidated by him.

"Is this the cat you told me about, Agent P?" he asks Perry.

The platypus nods, twisting the clipboard in his hands. "Yes. Anya the Cat, sir. She's passed the physical exam and as you can see, she can now walk on two legs."

Major Monogram holds out his hand, and Perry puts the clipboard into it. "I'll read this later," he says, putting the clipboard down on his desk and turning his gaze onto me. "You're Anya the Cat, correct?"

"Yes," I reply shortly, not entirely liking the way he's speaking.

"Agent P rescued you from the streets, correct?"

"Yes," I snap, hating the disdainful way he's looking at me. "And I'm not as filthy as I seem, old man, so there's no need to look at me like that."

Regarding me with narrowed eyes, Major Monogram says, "Agent P, you could have chosen a more polite candidate," sternly to Perry, who winces.

"Sorry, sir… But I didn't exactly "choose" her; I saved her life and offered her the chance to-."

"I don't need some half-baked excuse, Agent P," Major Monogram scolds him. "And as for you," he adds, narrowing his eyes even further at me, "if you are to become an agent of my organisation, I expect you to show me some respect."

"You haven't earned my respect yet," I retort. "All I know about you is that you're very condescending towards filthy street animals less fortunate than yourself and you treat your own agents with so little consideration that you won't give him a chance to explain that I would have been ripped apart and probably then eaten without him, so why don't you shut up until you know the whole story?"

Perry's eyes widen and he stares down at the ground, visibly holding his breath. I fold my arms and lift my chin, glaring into the expressionless face of the human sitting in front of me.

Finally, he stiffly says, "I apologise, Agent P. I have been under a lot of stress today and I did not mean to take it out on you or this candidate."

"This candidate has a name," I growl under my breath.

"Of course." Major Monogram draws himself up and visibly relaxes, his facial expression changing into the neutral one he had when we came in. "Trainee Anya, you are now an official apprentice of OWCA. See my intern on the way out and he will give you a key to your very own dorm room. Agent P, you two are dismissed."

Perry's head shoots up and he nods quickly, before grabbing my wrist and dragging me out of the room.

Something tells me I really dodged a bullet there...


	7. Chapter 7

"You can NOT say things like that to the leader of the organisation you work for!" hisses Perry, once we're outside the office.

"He was treating you AND me like dirt!" I snap back. "I don't know about you, but I don't let that kind of thing slide!"

"He has barely ever spoken to me like that, Anya! Being the leader of OWCA means he has a LOT of pressure on his shoulders and he's always been a fair and kind leader, so I can excuse the occasional slip."

"Coincidental that the first time I ever meet the guy is the ONE time he slips," I retort.

Perry growls, glaring at me. "You just can't say stuff like that to him, even if you're thinking it, okay?"

"Fine."

The platypus sighs, closing his eyes briefly. "You'll come to respect him in time."

I hate being told what I will and won't do. It makes me feel like I have no control over my life, and I HATE not having control. "No I won't."

"Well, then, you can just go!" Perry snaps at me. "If you can't even TRY to respect authority, then OWCA is no place for you!"

Sudden cold fear freezes my blood. I've only just found this place; I can't lose it. "No, no, I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I was just caught off guard, that's all. I've never spoken to a human before today, especially not one as important as that guy, so...I didn't entirely know how to react. I reacted how I would if it was an inconsequential animal talking to me like that. It's just going to take some time to adjust."

Perry grimaces, shaking his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Anya. I keep forgetting your origins. I know this is vastly different to what you're used to, and I apologise for that."

"It's okay." I shrug helplessly. "I think it's going to take us BOTH some time."

"Yeah…" Perry shakes his head again, this time to clear it. "Okay, let's go get you a room."

He takes me to a small room to the side of Major Monogram's office, where a younger man-more of a boy, really-is sorting through some papers. Perry knocks on the open door, gaining the attention of the boy. "Hey, Carl. Got someone here who needs a room."

"Hey!" Carl smiles at me, putting the papers on his desk and coming over to us. "You must be the new arrival. It's great to meet you. I'm Carl."

"I'm Anya," I say slowly, taking his offered hand and letting him shake it. What an odd custom. "I need a room."

"Of course, of course." Carl continues smiling as he goes back to his drawer of papers and sorts through them until he finds a clipboard, which he brings back over to me.

Seriously, what is it with this organisation and clipboards?

"We have a lot of rooms available," Carl tells me. "You can either have a room to yourself or share with five other people."

"A room to myself," I reply immediately.

"Hold on, Carl." Perry shakes his head and turns to me. "I know I said you could have a room to yourself, but it might be advantageous if you share with other people. Friends and allies are everything in OWCA, especially if you've come here with nobody, like you did."

"I don't want to share," I maintain. "Sharing spaces just means one of them will eventually stab you in the back and take over. It's something I learned on the streets and I'll never forget it."

"You're not on the streets anymore," Perry points out. "Here at OWCA, everything is different. It's _better_ , Anya, I promise it is. You don't need to worry about almost ninety percent of the stuff you had to worry about out on the streets. Lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of warmth, being attacked by ravenous animals, dying of illness, being hit by a car. None of that applies here."

I'm still unsure. I can see how sharing would have its advantages, but it's still unknown territory for me and I don't know if I'll be able to handle it.

"Okay, how about this: you take the shared room for a week and if you hate it by the end of that week, I'll get a new room for you, one on your own," Perry offers.

That...seems like a good deal. I do WANT to try and make friends here; I did learn that allies are important on the streets. It's just that...I've been betrayed by many a so-called friend out there that I'm not sure if I'll be able to trust anyone the way I trusted Julia. The way I'm starting to trust Perry.

"Who would I be sharing with?" I ask, somewhat reluctant.

Carl looks down at his clipboard and scans the list. "There's currently one room available with only five agents in it. Those agents are Jackie the Rabbit, Melinda the Cat, Paris the Platypus, Harper the Platypus, and Wanda the Wolf."

"Hey, you get to share with my twin sister!" Perry beams.

I stare at him in surprise. "Twin sister?"

"Paris. She's my twin sister. In fact, I know ALL those agents. You're going to have a lot of fun."

I hesitate. "What are they all like?"

"Well…" Perry thinks for a moment. "I'll tell you on the way there, okay?"

"Okay…" I sigh, then shrug helplessly. What's the worst that can happen? "I'll take that room, then, please."

Carl happily hands me the key, and Perry leads me off to go to the room. As we're walking, he tells me a bit about each of the agents. "Okay, so, Paris is my twin sister, like I said. She's a bit of a party animal and she hates it when people aren't getting along. She tries to include everyone in every activity. But she can also be a bit over the top and she knows it, so if she starts bothering you, just tell her and she'll back off."

Okay...Paris doesn't seem like my kind of person but I've never really met a person like Paris before, so maybe I'll be proved wrong.

"Next...oh, Harper. Harper's like a younger sister to us. She's an orphan; both her parents were killed by this evil organisation they were part of. She was raised by them for a while but she gained morals, so to speak, and was driven from the organisation. She's a little shy and reserved but she's strong-willed like you. She'll probably spend most of the time on her own, reading a book."

"She sounds more pleasant," I chuckle weakly.

Perry also chuckles. "She's very pleasant. Next, Melinda. She did her basic training at the same time as me; we've been friends for ages. She's very kind and sweet, but again like you, she has a bit of a sharp tongue. If anyone disrespects her or anyone she cares about, she will tear them verbally to shreds."

I grin. "I like the sound of her."

"Yep. Jackie's a bit like her as well, but colder and not as friendly. She just has a hard time expressing her emotions at times, that's all. But don't worry; I've known her as long as I've known Melinda, and I know she's really kind deep down. Again, she just has trouble showing it." Perry pauses. "Who else was there?'

"A wolf, I think," I reply, thinking back to what Carl said.

"Oh, of course. Wanda the Wolf. She's actually the most like you; she came from the streets as well."

My ears perk up at this. "Really?"

"Yeah. She was part of this notorious street gang that's thankfully no longer in existence. She killed the previous leader in order to gain power over the gang, but OWCA managed to break the gang up before she could do any real damage. After half a year in OWCA's cells, she decided she wanted to join OWCA. We let her, and now she's one of our best agents."

"W-Wow…" I hesitate, thinking back to my time on the streets. I may have even seen this Wanda around and not have known it at the time. "I didn't think anyone could have come from a worse background than me."

Perry chuckles. "Don't worry, she's not aggressive about it. She's just really defensive, so don't talk to her about the streets unless she starts a conversation about it first."

I nod slowly. "Got it. Will they… Will they like me, do you think?"

Perry nods as well. "Definitely. At the very least, Paris, Harper, and Melinda will, and that's over half of them."

That relieves me. I really don't want to be stuck in a room with people who dislike me. "Good, good…"

We walk in silence until we stop in front of a door with the number 11 on it. "Here we are," Perry says, smiling at me. "Do you want me to stay and help you settle in?"

Part of me wants to say yes. In fact, a LOT of me wants to say yes. But I reluctantly shake my head. "I'll be fine, thanks."

"Alright." Perry smiles again, before digging a small device out of his hat and giving it to me. "Call me if you need me."

"How will you hear if you're far away?" I ask confusedly.

Perry laughs. "Use the phone."

"Phone…?"

"The thing I just gave you. Paris will show you how to use it." Perry smiles one final time. "Good luck, Anya. I'll be back at dinnertime to take you down. Okay?"

"Okay. Bye, then…"

"See you later."

I watch as Perry goes down the hall and disappears round the corner. Now I'm REALLY scared, but I neither can nor want to turn back now.

My paw trembling, I reach up and knock on the door.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm honestly not sure what I'm expecting as I wait for the door to be answered. I really hope the others will like me; it'll be humiliating and painful if they don't. But I'm definitely not the most likeable person and I definitely don't have the best past, so really, it could go either way.

The person who opens the door is a teal platypus who looks exactly like Perry, except for some obvious gender differences. This must be Paris, Perry's twin sister. She smiles brightly when she catches sight of me. "Oh, hey! You must be Anya, right?"

I nod, taken slightly aback by the loud volume of her voice. "Y-Yeah. I'm Anya."

"Carl phoned up and told us you were coming." The platypus beams. "I'm Paris the Platypus, Perry's twin sister. I know you know my brother, don't you?"

"Y-Yeah," I stammer again.

"Come in, come in!" Paris continues beaming as she ushers me inside and closes the door behind me.

The room I'm in is small and square, with five doors-not including the one I just came through-leading off it: two on my left, one on my right, and two in front of me. And of course, the front door behind me.

"Okay, so, these three doors lead to bedrooms." Paris indicates the two doors on my left and the one on my right. "I'm sharing with Harper and Jackie's sharing with Wanda, which means you'll be sharing with Melinda. Okay?"

"I...I know nothing about her, so I don't really know…"

"Oh, right, okay!" Paris pats me on the back, surprising me. "Let's introduce you to the others, then."

She leads me through the door in front of me, which leads into a small living room with a group of sofas all facing a fireplace. I know what a sofa is because my father taught me, but I do feel nervous around open flames. Luckily, the fire isn't lit at this moment.

Sitting in the sofas are a tortoiseshell cat, a silver wolf, a yellow platypus, and a silver rabbit. They're all talking but as soon as we come in, they fall silent and turn to look at us.

"Hey, guys!" Paris is still beaming with excitement. "This is Anya the Cat. She's our new roommate."

I give an awkward wave.

The cat is the first one to stand up. She comes over to me and, smiling, shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you, Anya. I'm Melinda."

The next one to introduce herself is the yellow platypus, who gives her name as Harper.

Then the silver rabbit, who is apparently called Jackie.

Finally, the wolf: Wanda. She is the only one who doesn't get up or say that it's nice to meet me. She is definitely giving off the aura of a former street animal in the way she speaks and even sits. If I wasn't also from the streets, I'd feel intimidated by her. She certainly looks like the kind of animal to kill a pack leader in order to become the leader, herself, but that might just be because she's a wolf.

"I'll show you to your room." Melinda smiles and reaches out to take my paw, but I pull back, tensing my muscles. To my relief, Melinda senses this and doesn't try to touch me again. "This way," she says, just as kindly as before.

I follow her out of the living room and into the first of the two bedrooms I saw on my left as I came in. Inside, there's a bed on the floor and another bed on top of that: a "bunk bed", as Melinda calls it. There's a small pile of books on the floor, but otherwise, there's not much else in this room.

"I've been sleeping in the top bunk for a while, but that was only because I was on my own," Melinda says, climbing the ladder on the side of the frame until she's sitting on the top bed. "But you can have this bed, if you really want it. I honestly don't mind."

"I'd...rather be on the ground," I reply slowly. "I don't like not having an easy escape route."

"That's absolutely fine with me." Melinda beams. "Do you have any possessions?"

I shake my head. "I came straight from the streets, and I didn't have anything there."

Melinda nods slowly. "I heard that you used to live on the streets. I'm so sorry; that must have been really hard."

"I...suppose it was." I've always known that living on the streets is hard, but it's all I've ever known, so I've grown used to it. I stopped thinking of it as hard after a while and just thought of it as "the way I live". I've never lived in any other way, let alone in a lifestyle as comfortable as this, so I have nothing to compare it with yet. "Can we change the subject?"

"Of course!" Melinda climbs down from the bed and faces me. "I hear you're going to begin training tomorrow. Is that right?"

That's news to me, but I answer, "I was expecting as much. Why?"

"I was just thinking maybe you'd want to get a bit of a head start," Melinda replies. "I heard you've only just learnt how to walk on two legs."

"Yeah," I reply slowly, now very much on guard.

"How about I teach you how to punch and kick?" Melinda suggests. "Then Perry or whoever's teaching you won't have to start with the absolute basics."

"Punch? Kick?" I tip my head on one side. "Won't I just be using my teeth and claws, like always?"

"Uh…" Melinda looks a bit thrown-off. "Well, that seems a bit violent."

"Really? It's what I did all the time back on the street. It's usually very quick and painless, but it can be a little messy."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay!" Melinda waves her paws in the air, shaking her head frantically. "NO KILLING."

My head tips even further. "Huh?"

"OWCA has one cardinal rule and it's NO KILLING," Melinda repeats, still shaking her head. "And no bloodshed. Punching, kicking, that's all okay. But if it spills even a drop of blood, it's wrong."

"What if it's a nonfatal cut to the shoulder or something?" I ask, unsheathing my claws to show Melinda. "I can do that too."

"OWCA...OWCA agents rely on… They rely on their moves. Their actual fighting moves. Requiring no bloodshed."

I think I've thrown Melinda off, now. I feel bad, but at the same time, I'm confused as to how these seemingly well-trained enemies can be defeated without bloodshed. It seems impossible to me, but clearly OWCA is proficient at it.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I apologise. "It's just that I've never been able to fight in any other way."

"I understand." The smile is back on Melinda's face, though it seems ever so slightly forced. "That's why we're doing training. Okay, let's go back into the main room and practise hitting and kicking. That'll impress Perry, eh?" She winks at me.

I hesitate, but only for a second. "Okay."


	9. Chapter 9

Melinda and I only practise for about half an hour, but it feels longer. Maybe that's just because of how hard I work for that half hour. Melinda teaches me how to punch and kick, and by the time we hear a knock at the door, I've grasped both of them pretty well. Melinda tells me that I need to work on my strength, but otherwise, she's pleased with the way I've picked up on the moves.

Melinda opens the door to find Perry there, smiling. "Hey, Melinda. Is Anya there?"

I turn to the door and give a small wave. "Hi, Perry."

"Oh, there you are." Perry turns his smile on me. "It's dinnertime, so I thought I'd come and get you so we can eat together."

My brain immediately goes _finally!_ But honestly, during that short training session, I'd completely forgotten that I was hungry. Now that I've finished moving around so much, I can hear and feel my stomach rumbling.

"Okay." I smile back and head over to the door. "Thanks, Melinda."

"You're welcome." Melinda beams. "Keep working on those moves, okay?"

"I will."

I wave to her as Perry and I begin walking down the corridor. I'm not sure why I'm waving so much. I guess it's because it's a friendly but nonverbal way of saying hello and/or goodbye, and I like not having to speak; I'm really not used to being able to communicate with other species. That's why it was nice to talk to Melinda; we were both actually speaking the same language.

"What did she mean by "those moves"?" Perry asks suddenly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, Melinda was teaching me how to punch and kick," I reply. "Apparently, I can't use my teeth or claws to fight here."

Perry glances sideways at me. "No, you can't. Or you shouldn't, at least. Why did she teach you that?"

"She didn't want to make your job harder. Or the job of whoever's going to be training me."

The platypus nods slowly. "Alright, I understand. How did that go?"

"Pretty well. I can punch people now," I reply proudly, pleased with my progress. "I hope you'll be impressed with how quickly I learn."

Perry chuckles. "I bet I will; it certainly sounds like you've learned a lot in half an hour."

It's then that we reach a pair of big double doors, which Perry pushes open to reveal a very big room with lots of chairs and tables scattered around. I can see a few animals sitting at the tables, but the room is nowhere near full.

"Welcome to the cafeteria," Perry says, grinning. "They serve meals suitable for any and every species."

My stomach rumbles even more. "ANY species?"

"Most definitely. Do you like fish?"

I stare at him in shock, my eyes round with hopefulness. "You have FISH?!"

"They have pretty much everything," chuckles Perry. "I take that as a yes, then."

He leads me over to a long hole in the wall, standing behind which are three humans with many, MANY trays of food. The combined smell of all the different types of food is a bit overwhelming, but my finely-trained nose picks up one scent above all the others: sausages. I've stolen what must be thousands of sausages over the ten years I've been out on the streets; I'd know that scent anywhere.

"What would you like?" Perry asks me.

"I… How much am I allowed?" I ask carefully.

"Oh, as much as you want."

I stare at him yet again in shock. "What…?"

"It's all free," explains Perry. "And it doesn't matter how much you have; that's why OWCA buys food in bulk."

"So I can… I can have a sausage AND a fish?" I ask hopefully.

" _A_ sausage?" repeats Perry, chuckling. "Anya, you could have TWENTY sausages and THIRTY fish if you wanted to. There's literally no limit. Once, I saw an elephant agent clear out the entire stock of food in these trays, and the servers literally pulled out the exact same amount of trays with even more food on them. And one other time-."

I think he's telling a story now, but I can't hear what he's saying because my brain might have just shut down. All this food…and I can have...literally...however much I want… It's almost too good to be true.

"What's the catch?" I demand.

Perry breaks off his story and glances across at me in surprise. "What? There's no catch, Anya. OWCA agents eat three meals like this a day. It's a requirement."

As I continue to look suspiciously at him, he sighs. "Anya, I know you've had to fight for food and go long periods of time with little to no food your whole life, but you're in OWCA now. OWCA agents don't need to go long periods of time with no food. They're fed three times a day, exactly like this. Trust me, okay?"

I do trust him. It's just that I'm not used to having this much food available for me at any one time. In fact, I think there might be more food in OWCA's building right now than I've eaten across my whole life. Yeah, that's how bad things got on the streets.

"Okay," I say. "Now can I eat?"

Perry chuckles. "Yes, you can finally eat."

So Perry helps me choose what to eat. I decide on three sausages, several little fish in a bowl that the servers generously provide for me, a medium-sized piece of meat that Perry calls a "steak", and to drink, just some water. He helps me carry it over to a table, then he goes back to get his own meal.

While I'm wolfing my meal down, I spot a black and white animal coming over to my table. I narrow my eyes at him and continue eating, a clear warning. But he either doesn't see or ignores it. "Hello, I'm Peter the Panda. I haven't seen you around before; are you new?"

I warily nod, but then I see his paw rise, and my brain immediately goes into overdrive. Hissing, I drop my sausage and leap at the panda, bowling him over and pinning him to the ground, snarling in his screeching face. My claws are unsheathed but before I can do anything with them, I hear Perry's voice yelling, "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! ANYA, STOP!"

I leap up and retreat back a few paces, watching as Perry runs into view and darts between me and Peter, staring between me and him with wide eyes. "Anya, what the hell?!"

"He was going to steal my food!" I growl, baring my teeth at Peter, who yelps.

"Perry, what IS this creature?!"

"I'm a cat!" I snarl back, before Perry can react. "I. AM. A. CAT. And if you EVER try to steal my food again, I'll-!"

"Take it DOWN a notch, Anya!" Perry shouts, holding out both his paws to me. "He wasn't trying to steal your food. People don't do that here at OWCA, okay? If he had wanted one of your fish or something, he would have just gone and got some from the counter for himself."

I suppose that makes sense. I let my claws slide back into their sheathes and cross my arms as Perry deems it safe to go and help Peter up. The panda is shaking, though with fear or anger I can't tell at the moment.

I soon find out.

"Where the hell did you find this...this animal, Perry?!" he snaps. "And what the hell is wrong with her?!"

"Pete, calm down," Perry urges. "She's a former street cat and this is her first day around OWCA. I need you to cut her some slack; this is very different from what she's used to."

"She's a street cat?" Peter narrows his eyes at me. "That explains the filthy smell."

"PETER!" Perry glares at him. "You need to leave and calm yourself down a bit!"

After one more glare at me, Peter turns and leaves. I watch him go, slight worry replacing my anger. I really don't think he was trying to steal my food, but after ten years of competing with other animals for the same scraps, I just reacted instinctively.

This is REALLY going to take some getting used to.


	10. Chapter 10

We're eating in silence right now. I'm slowly gnawing on my steak, while Perry quietly sips up his dish of what's called "soup", as he tensely told me when I hesitantly asked him just after we sat down at the table together.

After a few more minutes of excruciating silence, I ask, "Are you mad at me?"

More silence follows this, so I awkwardly unsheath one of my claws and use it to begin cutting my steak into bite-sized pieces. This creates a slightly annoying noise, punctuated by the occasional piercing screech when I accidentally hit the plate with the claw.

"I'm not mad at you," Perry replies finally. "I'm more mad at Pete for the way he reacted afterwards."

"You have a right to be mad at me, though," I say, subdued somewhat.

"No, I don't; eight years of instincts isn't going to go away in one day. I need to remember that."

I hope he's not just saying that to make me feel better. Maybe he really IS mad at me; I DID attack his friend for no reason, after all. But when I think back to that moment, I can clearly remember seeing his paw move. I don't know, maybe he was going to reach out to shake my hand. That's probably what he was going to do. But as he began moving, my brain had interpreted that as he was going to take some of my food. Rationality had abandoned me and my survival instinct had taken over. It looks like I'll have to tone that survival instinct down quite a bit while I'm here. After all, I won't need to fight for food or shelter anymore, and those are pretty much the only two things I got into fights over back on the streets.

Food, shelter, warmth, safety. Those were the four fundamentals out there. Of course, there was never any of the lattermost. And the other three were rare. But here, it seems I won't have to worry about them anymore. And while I'm very happy about that, I'm still fighting my instincts even at this moment. My instincts right now are urging me to sneak some of this food back to my room and hide it for later. But I don't HAVE to do that; Perry said OWCA agents are fed like this three times a day. That'll be more than enough for me.

"So...who…" I hesitate. "Who was that agent I attacked?"

"Peter the Panda," replies Perry, looking up at me for the first time since we sat down. "He's been a friend of mine for a while. We did our basic training together." He grimaces. "Speaking of Peter, I'm really sorry about what he said."

"What HE said?" I repeat, tipping my head on one side.

"About you having a filthy smell. You don't, by the way," Perry adds quickly. "Pete just… He has a bit of prejudice against street animals. And former street animals," he again adds quickly, seeing my eyes narrow slightly. "A lot of agents here do, unfortunately. They've never experienced the hardship of the streets before, but if they had, they would never treat street-animals-turned-agents the way they do. Thankfully, none of your roommates are among those agents. Mostly because Paris and Melinda were raised with me by a very compassionate cat whose own brother spent a long time on the streets, Wanda was a street animal herself, and Jackie's mother is a zoo animal, which are also discriminated against here."

I have two questions about what he just said, but I ask a different one first: "What about Harper?"

"That's...slightly more difficult. The organisation in which she grew up discriminated against everyone who wasn't a part of them, street animal or OWCA agent alike. When she came here, we taught her the rights and wrongs, including the fact that nobody, zoo animal or street animal, should be discriminated against. They're just as valuable-if not MORE so-than the OWCA-born animals."

I nod slowly. "Why are zoo animals and street animals discriminated against?"

Perry sighs disappointedly. "Because a lot of OWCA-born agents see them as inferior. They consider street animals to be dirty and vulgar, and zoo animals to be dumb and untalented."

I feel my skin heat up with indignation. "That's completely unfair!"

"I quite agree," Perry responds. "I oppose such prejudice completely, because, apart from the obvious reason that nobody deserves such prejudice, it's absolutely not true. Any zoo-born agent can be twice as intelligent as an OWCA-born agent, and any street-born agent can be twice as skilled as an OWCA-born agent."

I nod approvingly. "It all depends on their training, right?"

"Right."

After a brief pause, I ask my final question: "Are you and Melinda siblings?"

Perry glances up at me again in surprise. "What?"

I shrug awkwardly. "You said you and your twin sister were raised alongside her, so I just…"

"Oh, right." Perry shakes his head. "No. My mother and Melinda's mother were really close friends, so when my mother died, her mother raised Paris and me."

I shiver unconsciously. "Your mother died?"

Perry nods slowly. "Yeah. It was when we were really young, so I don't remember her."

I hesitate for a moment, before saying, "Me too. My dad told me that my mother died giving birth to me, so I never got to know her either."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Perry grimaces sympathetically. "What… What happened to your dad, if I may ask?"

I shiver again, this time recalling the memory of finding my dad's body. "Starvation. I was about three years old at the time and I'd gone out to get some food for him. It was also winter, so that didn't help. When I came back to our shelter with some food, he… he was… just... _gone_." I clear my throat as my voice threatens to break. "I'm sort of thankful I didn't see it happen myself, but at the same time, if I had, I might have had the chance to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry, Anya…"

"So am I," I murmur. "He wasn't just my father; he was my teacher. He taught me how to hunt, how to speak, how to fight. He taught me stuff about everything, like what some human things were. That's how I know most food names, furniture names, and a lot of animal species names as well."

Perry cocks his head. "Was he born on the streets too?"

"Um… I'm not sure. I never got the chance to ask; I wasn't curious enough about him when he died. Why?"

"Well...it seems like that's a lot of knowledge for a street animal," Perry replies hesitantly. "I'm not saying street animals can't be knowledgeable; it's just that normally, street animals don't know furniture names and stuff like that. Do you know who taught him how to fight?"

I shake my head. "No. Again, I didn't get the chance to ask. But…" I pause thoughtfully. "I do remember thinking that his vocabulary was really advanced. Normally, street animals don't have much of a vocabulary because they often don't have the right circumstances to learn the words, if that makes sense. I learnt to speak properly by almost age two. So I did wonder for a while where he got such an extensive vocabulary."

"Yeah, I noticed that your own lexicon is quite advanced."

"Lexicon?"

"Vocabulary."

"Oh." I hesitate. "My dad taught me everything he knew, so I guess it makes sense for his vocabu- for his lexicon to be passed to me."

Perry grins. "There you go; you just learned a new word."

I chuckle back. "I suppose I did."

A short silence follows this, then Perry clears his throat. "Are you all done?"

I look down at my empty plate and nod wordlessly, so Perry collects our trays and goes to put them away, while I look outside at the darkness, then up at the small round thing inside the room: the clock. My dad taught me a little about telling the time, but I've never been able to see a clock before, so I haven't been able to put it into practise.

"What's the time?" I ask Perry when he comes back.

He glances at the clock. "Ten to eight."

He doesn't ask, to my relief, but I still have to tell him. "I...can't tell the time."

Perry smiles at me. "Don't worry, we can work on that as well. Maybe you can ask your roommates to help you."

So, when I get back to my room, I do. And from then until I go to bed, I work on punching, kicking, telling the time, reading, and writing. Melinda, Paris, and Harper are all being very kind to me. They assure me Jackie would be helping too if she was here, but apparently, she's spending time with her mother in the zoo. And Wanda...has been shut in her room since before dinner. I'm not sure why.

At bedtime, Melinda shows me how to get into the bed. I snuggle under the covers as she tucks me in-slightly embarrassingly for me. They're very cozy and warm.

So cozy that I fall asleep before Melinda even gets into her own bed.


End file.
